Packaging material for reams (i.e., 500 sheets) of cut paper is typically manufactured in large rolls, printed or not printed, and rewound and/or cut to specific sizes. The packaging material is then sold to paper manufacturers who package the reams of paper on wrapping lines. Reams of cut paper (e.g., 8½ inches×11 inches, etc.) for copy machines, computers, printers, and other home and office applications are most commonly packaged for shipping, storage, and retail sale in various packaging materials, including paper, paper/film combinations, and solid single- or multi-layer plastic films. As more people have acquired home computers and printers, the use of copier, printer, and computer papers by individual consumers has increased. Individual consumers typically purchase individually wrapped reams of paper at an office supply store, retail store, or through an office supply catalog.
Small business and home office users often need to use only part of a ream at a time and store the remainder of an open ream. A major disadvantage of traditional ream wrap packaging for the individual user is that the current method of opening the packaging destroys the integrity of the entire wrapped ream because such wrappers lack an easy-open ability. For instance, when the folded bottom or top end of the wrapped ream is torn open, the entire folded package tears and opens, destroying the integrity of the wrapped structure and exposing and scattering the loose sheets of paper remaining in the ream. For the individual user who uses only a portion of the ream at a time and needs to store the remaining sheets, the unbound papers pose an inconvenience and impediment to storage. Since the structural support of the original packaging is compromised, the result for individual users is often physical damage to the unbound sheets of paper being stored for future use.
The current marketplace demands a packaging material that may be opened easily so that a user does not tear or destroy the packaging integrity and may remove part of a ream and store the remaining sheets in a structure that prevents physical damage and scattering of loose papers. When torn, a tear tape or easy-open feature enables one end of the package to open, without tearing the remaining packaging, leaving the remaining structure of the ream wrap intact. The remaining package enables the individual user to both safely and easily store and dispense papers.
Such easy-open packaging is equally applicable to other consumer goods, such as, for example, paper towels, napkins, toilet paper, etc., where a tear tape applied across a web either on the packaging line or during the manufacture of the packaging materials would be advantageous.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,557,609 provides an apparatus for cutting and applying a tearing strip to a packaging film. The apparatus uses a pressing device to which a transverse blade for cutting the tear strip and two (2) auxiliary blades for notching/cutting the edge of the packaging film are integrally fixed. When the tear strip is fed underneath the packaging film and the pressing device is actuated, the following three (3) actions occur simultaneously: (1) tear strip is cut; (2) notches are cut into the edge of the packaging film; and (3) tear strip is adhered to the packaging film. This apparatus requires the belt conveying the tear strip and the packaging film to be stopped or stationary while the tear strip is being applied to the packaging film.
In contrast to the prior art, in embodiments of the claimed invention, the packaging material/web is not stopped when applying the tear strip. In addition, the notching/cutting of the edge of the packaging material is performed before the tear strip is applied and also does not require the packaging material/web to be stopped or stationary. Moreover, embodiments of the invention provide an improved non-contact cutting mechanism, namely a laser, for cutting the tear tape, which improves the prior art. Embodiments of the invention further improve the prior art by resulting in faster application speeds and more accurate and reliable application of tear tapes.